Work took me up north to St. Paul last week. I got a rental car and tried out a few places while I was there. On Wednesday, I tried out the infamous "Juicy Lucy" at the 5-8 Club...

I got the fried onions, onion rings and cole slaw for the sides...

For those of you that are not familiar with this burger, it's a cheeseburger that has the cheese cooked on the inside of the patty...

It was pretty tasty, but in order to make a judgement as to who has the BEST Juicy Lucy, I had to make a visit to Matt's Bar for dinner on Thursday to find out...they spell their's "JUCY LUCY" with no "i"...

This place was truly a "dive"...a hole in the wall, but unique nonetheless...

Here's my opinionated conclusion: I think the 5-8 Club had a slightly better Juicy Lucy. The cheese had more flavor and the burger was juicier. Although, the bun was a little on the stale side. I'll have to hand it to Matt's though, b/c I think they are the ones who invented this style of burger. Very creative, and I think they "pocketed" the cheese better in their burger, b/c it seemed to stay in place better while I was eating it. The cheese in the 5-8 burger kinda squirted out the back when I was biting into it. It was a lot of fun visiting the two rival restaurants...I would do it all over again.

I was in the MSP area over the weekend and wanted to go to Matt's or 5-8, but didn't make it. We ended up going to a place in St. Paul called The Nook (close to where we were staying with friends) and had a "Juicy Nook" there. The people we were staying with think it is better than Matt's. Now I have no frame of reference since a) I'd never had a Juicy Lucy before and b) I wasn't able to compare it to Matt's, but the Juicy Lucy at The Nook was quite awesome. I can't imagine one tasting better than that, but I'm willing to attempt to discredit that theory by going to either Matt's or 5-8 the next time I'm ever in MSP.

Also, it's amazing how the Food Network and Travel Channel will lead you to believe the Jucy Lucy is exclusive to either Matt's or 5-8. I had no idea there are quite a few places that have them.

To be honest with you, there was nothing fantastic about either one. They both were "ok", but you can't really screw up a cheeseburger. Kind of tasted like an ordinary indoor-cooked burger with some cheese in the middle. I think it's more the "concept" of the Jucy Lucy that makes Matt's and 5-8's a local favorite. Pretty cool that Matt's came up with the idea....I guess that's why the TV station visited them. But as far as taste goes, I think anyone could make a better Jucy Lucy at their house, and on the GRILL of course.. If I'm ever in the area again, I'll have to try "The Nook" out... How far away is that from The Embassy Suites in St. Paul? I walked around quite a bit in downtown St. Paul, but I don't remember seeing that restaurant...

It's not downtown. It's about 4 miles away, west of I-35E off of Randolph and Hamline.

Ahhh....I-35.... I had a rental Toyota Yaris when I was up there and people drove NUTS on I-35!!! First of all, my work vehicle is a Chevy Tahoe, and my personal truck is a big ol' Dodge Ram... So, I felt like I was driving around in a soda can on that trip!!! On top of that, people rode my bumper the entire time, and used their horns like they were turn signals! I thought I was an offensive driver, but NOPE!!! I'll have to check it out if I've ever in the area again.....thanks for the tip!

the nook's variety trumps both the 5-8 club or matts. in the end, they both use regular ole hamburger meat (there is nothing different than the meat they use and the meat you get at a grocery store) and press 2 patties around american cheese.

the nooks burgers are better than the others.

5-8 club and matts are basically minny's pats and geno's. both are ok, there are better to be had in the area. just ask the locals.